Northern Coralroot: A wee orchid

I wanted to share some imagery of a really cool little orchid that I made last spring, in the mountains of southern West Virginia. This is a species that is listed as endangered in my home state, and I've never seen it in Ohio. Here, it's known only from a few sites in the extreme northeastern corner of the state.

A quintet of Northern Coralroot (Corallorhiza trifida) arises from the cold, boggy mire of a high-elevation bog in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It was nearing full bloom on the very early date of May 4 (2025). At that locale, snow is still a likely possibility. The early blooming of this elfin orchid leads to another common name: Early Coralroot.

ASIDE: There is essentially no standardization for plant common names, thus it is vital to know and use scientific names, like Corallorhiza trifida, when researching flora, to ensure that you are harvesting data on the correct species. I prefer Northern Coralroot for this species, as it certainly is that. Although there is other northern species of coralroot, just as there is another eastern coralroot that blooms in spring.

Northern Coralroot is an elfin plant, and that short individual - second from left - in the above photo is probably only 2-3 inches in height. It'd be quite easy to pass this one by, as from an upright position - and I assume most readers are hominids that walk with an erect posture - the plants are easy to miss due to their small stature. Fortunately, when in flower, the tiny petals are a somewhat luminescent yellowish-white and their faint glow can draw the eye.

Here is the overall lower US distribution of Northern Coralroot (map courtesy of BONAP). It barely extends south of the Great Lakes, and the plants in my photos were made in one of the two southernmost counties in West Virginia, both depicted in yellow (which means "rare").

BONAP maps are misleading, insofar as the big picture is concerned, as they don't portray records north of the lower 48 states. This coralroot ranges across Canada and extends north to Alaska and southeastern Greenland and also occurs across Eurasia.

Here is the Flora North America map, which makes clear why I prefer the name Northern Coralroot. This tough plant probably gets stepped on by Polar Bears on occasion!

Northern Coralroot also occurs widely across Eurasia, including Siberia. The species has been cleft into two varieties, and most of the North American plants are apparently Corallorhiza trifida var. verna. I assume the Eurasian plants would be mostly/all the nominate variety (C. trifida var. trifida).

A tight shot of the inflorescence. Very beautiful flowers, but on a tiny scale. All of those floral parts would be measured in millimeters.

Reproduction is interesting in that Northern Coralroot flowers are mostly, maybe often entirely, self-pollinated. When ripe, the pollinia, or pollen sacs, fall off and land on the stigma (pollen receptor). Thus, insect transport agents are not required. A wise strategy for a plant that often blooms when it can still be quite cold. But insects can transfer pollen if conditions allow for their movement. About the only group of insects that I could find reference to are various flies (Diptera). Go flies! There may be no order of animals as underappreciated as the Dipterans. But I'll leave flies for another day.